I second that except to say I used to be a fan of Michigan.... even though not so much these days. If Michigan were playing for all the marbles vs. anyone but an SEC team I would be all about the Maize and Blue. I agree UM is in the negative spotlight of the media.... and usually that does not end well for a losing coach. I think they should clean the whole house from the quirky AD on down and do it sooner than later. Hoke seems likable enough but it's a pretty messy mess he has gotten himself in to.
I thought of Declan as well Sid, in this case Morris appears to be just fine I am assuming that now they are moving forward with the standard concussion protocol which will determine when he can play next. The process is what is under fire. In the Declan Sullivan case he of course lost his life due to poor judgement on those who were supervising him. But it was a big story, as well it should have been. There are those who feel that Kelly while not his direct supervisor should have stepped in and said what the heck are those guys doing up in the towers...get them down and should have been fired. I don't even want to get into the Lizzie Seeberg case as I don't think she should have even been at St. Mary's away from her support system. She'd already had to have been removed from Dayton the previous year due to mental health issues. But I can understand her families pain.
Terry, your thoughts on both cases are the same as mine. The good news for Michigan and the Morris kid is that he'll be OK. I was thinking of the media pressure, which didn't go away at ND and isn't going away at Michigan. George, you are correct.
Thanks for the kind words guys but there is no need to pull your punches about this debacle on my account. Would be interested in your frank thoughts about this mess and the causes of why it spun out of control. One of M's character flaws is an institutional arrogance that should have but did not subside to some degree after the scandals of the basketball program and the NCAA sanctions imposed upon the school during RR's tenure. When faced last year with the issues involving Gibbons and Lewan, it was this arrogance that led them to finesse their way out of culpability by PR and obfuscation and, for the most part, they got away with it. But, the football team's free fall and AD's price gouging of its fans has created so much dissatisfaction so as to deprive the University of its ability to hide mistakes by evasionary PR and stonewalling those who are critical of the football program. Michigan has for eons attempted to portray itself as a school able to compete with eveyone in athletics while maintaining ethical and academic standards nearly comparable to Stanford and Northwestern. Our rivals thought this pretenious ******** and this most recent episode probably is just another indication that our rivals may know us better that we know ourselves.
Since I commented that it seemed like nobody on the Mich sideline knew that the QB took a big hit to the head, I was glad to see that we have a system in place that doesn't depend on Kelly seeing the action, there are guys whose job it is to do that, watch the players. I would be surprised that it isn't Standard Op Procedure at just about every school, including Michigan. It just failed last Sat at UM.
George, the kid looks kind of old for a college QB. :lol: The outside pressure on the AD continues to mount: http://espn.go.com/college-football...don-coach-brady-hoke-wake-shane-morris-injury
It's out of control now. Granted he never should have gone back in the game, and I still don't see how the Minn kid wasn't ejected. I wonder if the B1G office has suspended that official who was standing right there and didn't throw a flag. Has Minn or has anybody asked Minn about the incident? Clearly post incident, UM, Hoke, and AD Brandon have not been very good at handling the situation. But we do have to remember that the kid was not injured further when he went in for that 1 play. Doesn't excuse it, but should be a some what mitigating factor.
I am a huge fan of the Bobda which is why I'm trying to keep this light hearted and fun. Bobda aside, Michigan can go sit on a chain saw. Since the honest response was requested by Bobda, I'll chime in. I believe there's a few things at play here. Honestly, ANY program can fall flat on their face given the right circumstances. ND fans were served heaping portions of humble pie. We though Davie was bad and the universe decided to show us what bad is with TyWillie. Crazy as it sounds, Chuckles was an improvement. The metaphorical handjob from the ugly gal if you will. Still, it was what it was.. Programs can recover quicker if they are loaded with instate talent, or surrounding talent. Michigan certainly has great instate talent, but there is a diminishing population in the region as economies collapse and people move to warmer climates. I believe that no matter how much we romanticize our legends of days gone by, we were overlooking other reasons that contributed to their success. I think we've seen this with the Bo family tree, the Bear family tree etc... even ND to an extent is so married to their past that they often have blinders on to their future. This is problematic when the layout of the game changes, and it clearly has changed these past 20 years. Small 'mistakes' in handling or preparation are now magnified because there's no longer that huge room for error in today's college game. I know Nick Saban is often considered the standard, but you can't overlook the fact that the guy is the greatest dictator since George Wallace and Bear Bryant. He rules with an iron fist and suffocates everything that is not to the benefit of 'the system.' I don't honestly know if that would play well in today's Michigan. Coaching turnover has not helped. I believe the talent is there, but for whatever reason, the staff is not keeping the momentum in on-field results. At the same time, I have no idea why Michigan doesn't have a real quarterback. Their offense has been led, at times successfully by good athletes..but they aren't real QBs in the school known for GREAT QBs.. They've become so wrapped in their legend, they've lost their way. They are more marketing than manufacturer at this point in time. I'm not throwing stones here. Notre Dame has been a god damned Pepsi ad for 20 years now. We're getting back to where we need to go. I think, for the most part, the fan base has accepted that we'll have to go along with the process to get to the point where we're so loaded, we can play at a level that excuses our arrogant ignorance. I see Michigan being much the same. Honestly, I think you need Jim Harbaugh and, as a fan base, you prepare yourself for whatever the hell he's going to do, and whoever he's going to piss off. He's perfect. He's a true Michigan man. He's great, he's arrogant and he gives not one f&ck what anyone else thinks. You don't tell that guy what Bo would do, he knows. You don't tell him what it's like to be a winner at Michigan, he embodies it. You don't tell him what it's like to build a winner anywhere, he's done it repeatedly. He'll do it his way and that will be the only way. He won't give one **** what anyone thinks and he'll slap around the fairly obnoxious Michigan media. In my opinion, he's the closest thing out there to having the potential to be the next nick Saban. He's that ruthless.
It'll play well in Michigan, if he sneaks up on them. Saban didn't really show his true colors until he had started winning. Then slowly he eased into his natural state...businessman attitude with the team and open contempt with the press and reluctant tolerance of the fans.
I'm a pretty big Jim Harbaugh fan myself. I watched in person his junior year as he writhed in pain on the ground after reaching for a fumble vs. Mich St and having his arm seriously broken. Then I watched in person his senior year in Ohio Stadium as he backed up his brash promise that Michigan would beat Ohio State for the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth. He would definitely restore the glory at Michigan.
There was a "Fire Brandon" protest yesterday on the Michigan campus. I can only imagine how bad it would have to be at my school (ND) for this kind of protest to take place. In 1962, my freshman year, halfway through the ND football season, a pre-game pep rally broke out in the chant, "Joe must go!" referring to Joe Kuharich, the head coach. My memory is slipping, but I believe that at some point, they canceled the remaining pep rallies. He was fired at the end of the season based on performance, not the chant, but the similarity to what's going on at Michigan, for me, is worth noting. Photos and videos from yesterday's "Fire Brandon" protest. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...higan-students-rally-for-dave-brandons-ouster
Corey, I agree that Harbaugh would be the ideal choice but I think that if SF and he part ways, he will likely go to another NFL team that offers him more control in team operations. My guess is that M will either end up with a second tier HC such as Graham at Az St or someone like Schiano or possibly a highly touted offensive or defensive coordinator. I could also seeing them taking a run at Stanford's coach but all of the crap going on in AA probably makes a move from S to M appear very unattractive. Wish we could borrow as an AD someone will a killer instinct/let's get this deal done/ here is the money mentality like Mel Moore for our head coach search.
I never thought Alabama would get Saban out of the NFL, but there's a lot of appeal in being a dictator to the right guy. I remember when Finebaum would throw that out there that his soures were telling him it's possible, and the Auburn/UT/Vol etc fans would howl and laugh. Then the tears started
My God, what a horrible train wreck Michigan has become. It's painful to watch and I have to turn away. I started to watch Hoke's tearful press conference after the game, but it was too much for me. Why in hell don't they just fire the guy, rather then allowing him to twist in the wind like this? He's a Michigan guy and he failed. That should be the end of one story and the beginning of another. Instead, we have this weekly, slow-motion , Taliban execution...
I wonder how close Mich State is to flipping the state of Michigan? It's happened here in Texas with the Aggies currently to the top dog with regards to program success, interest and even more importantly recruiting. Mich State and Dantonio have rebuilt the MSU program to where he is 5-2 vs Mich and they said that last Mich State coach to have a winning record vs Mich was Biggie Munn back in the 50's. Hoke at least up till now has been playing with the big boys with regards to recruiting, bringing in good classes loaded with top national talent. Dantonio has been living with 3* and a few 4* players. Is it possible that Mich State will flip that and become the preferred destination for top ranked Mich players and Midwestern players over Mich? Interesting implications for Mich football. We've seen it happen here in Texas.
That would pretty hard to do in Michigan..... too many generations of Maize and Blue fans to easily switch. And the subway fans..... the line workers.... plant workers etc.... with no education link to UM.... the maize and blue collar workers.... those guys are decidely Wolverine fans